Foley Says That As Governor He Would Veto New Gun Laws

MIDDLETOWN — Tom Foley told a gun rights group Tuesday night that he would veto any further attempts to restrict gun rights in Connecticut if he becomes governor.

Foley's comments, delivered to hundreds of members of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League who packed a function room at the Middletown Elks Lodge, were his most extensive on the state's new gun control law passed by the legislature in 2013.

He spoke largely in broad terms, and did not discuss the specifics of the law, which requires universal background checks, expands the ban on assault weapons and prohibits the sale of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds. The measure was enacted after the Newtown school shootings.

Gun control is expected to be a dominant issue in the governor's race this year. Sen. John McKinney, who represents Newtown and was one of the architects of the gun bill, is seeking the Republican nomination, as is Sen. Toni Boucher, who also voted for the bill. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton is a member of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun-control group. Another Republican candidate, former West Hartford council member Joe Visconti, has made gun rights a cornerstone of his campaign.

On the Democratic side, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, an outspoken advocate of gun control, is widely expected to seek re-election.

The CCDL is an increasingly potent political force. The group, which has more than 10,000 members, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the new law.

Addressing the gun owners, Foley alluded to mental health issues in his family and said "I know from personal experience how little support there is here and elsewhere for families with mental health challenges ... I would have focused on that."

"If I'm governor, any further attempts and restrictions on law-abiding gun owners by our legislature will stop at the governor's office,'' he said. The crowd clapped.

"And if I am governor, you will hear the refreshing language and policies of someone who listens, who represents ordinary citizens and respects their rights and beliefs, who believes that government doesn't know what's best for people and who doesn't harass law-abiding citizens with the threat of jail terms and rudely telling them they better get in line,'' Foley said.

Foley began his 12-minute speech with a few autobiographical comments. "I'm a sportsman and I'm a gun-owner,'' he said.

The Greenwich resident said later that he rarely hunts anymore; when he did he mostly shot birds and rodents. He doesn't rely on weapons for protection, although he said that when he served in Iraq as director of private sector development "I had to carry a sidearm for personal protection."

He also touched on the deaths of 20 children and six women at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, which set of the drive for tighter gun laws in Connecticut and elsewhere in the United States.

"All of us share the pain and sadness felt by that community and understand the impulse to take action to make sure it cannot happen again," Foley said.

But, he said, the gun law enacted would not have prevented the tragedy. "Had I been governor, the outcome in Connecticut would have been different,'' Foley said.

During a brief question and answer session after his remarks, Foley demurred when asked if he would sign a repeal of the law.

"If the legislature was so inclined — the chances of that happening this year is probably the definition of zero — if I were governor and the legislature put in front of me legislation that would reduce the burden on law-abiding gun owners, I would sign it," he said.

Again, the comment was met with applause. But the man who asked it, Pablo Soto, said later he wasn't totally satisfied with the answer.

"It wasn't a satisfactory answer,'' Soto, a small business owner from Meriden, said after Foley left.

"I won't rule him out yet,'' Soto said. "To me personally he didn't come out as strongly as I would have liked."

Scott Wilson, the CCDL president, said he was happy to hear Foley's message.

"There have been questions from gun owners as far as how staunch his support of the Second Amendment is," Wilson said after the speech. "I hope some of that was clarified tonight."

But, Wilson added: "I know he's a candidate and he's a smart candidate, so maybe he's playing things a little close to the vest ... he said the bill would have been a whole lot different ... does that mean he would have voted for some form of it? I don't know. I like to think we would have had a better chance with him.''

Wilson said he would consider inviting the other candidates. "I don't know if some of them necessarily want to, if they voted for the gun bill, they may not want to come speak to us."